Album Review: Various Artists – “It’s A Bomber”

Initially founded in 2002 as a hobby, Bomber music is a well-respected, independent music company. Over the years they’ve worked with some of the best underground punk bands around, and the imaginatively titled It’s A Bomber compilation features a selection of their favourite tracks from these artists. With a line-up including the likes of Random Hand, The Skints, Jesse James and Sorry & The Sinatras, surely this compilation has to be good.

Kicking off with Dutch/American ska-punks Jaya The Cat, Here Come the Drums is taken from their The NewInternational Sound Of Hedonism album. It’s good, catchy ska (in particular the outro) and a great start to the record.

British skacore legends Random Hand are up next with the storming Anger Management from Inhale/Exhale. Again, it’s seriously catchy stuff. You’d be hard pressed not to at least tap your foot along to this one. Midway through they up the ante, going in a more hardcore punk direction, the vocals in this bit initially remind me of Jonathan Davis of Korn during that breakdown in Freak On A Leash, although I have a feeling that could just be me.

Moving swiftly on, we have a couple of excellent Celtic folk-punk tracks from The Roughneck Riot (Ignorance Is Easy) and Smokey Bastard (Wasteland), and it’s not long before the next brilliant double whammy with the dirty punk rock of Sorry & The Sinatras Valencia and the ska-punk of Jesse James Wake Up.

The Skints Up Against The Wall provides a marked change in pace, mixing dub, reggae and a little bit of hip hop for good measure, before the ska-reggae of New Town Kings Luna Rosa hits with its slow paced horns.

The punk element of this compilation returns with a vengeance to close out the album. Two of my favourite tracks being The Smoking Hearts Seatbelts – hardcore punk reminiscent of The Bronx, and 7 Day Conspiracy’s Berkshire Hunt, with its cheeky, probably unprintable chorus (let’s just say there’s a lot of swearing).

Bomber music have certainly picked the tracks on offer well. It’s A Bomber is excellent value for money and given the underground nature of the artists involved, it’s a perfect starting point for anyone looking to discover something new. I just hope the artists involved manage to shift some albums as a result.

Final Thoughts

A cracking compilation of some of the best underground ska/punk bands around. Bomber music know what they're doing, and it's no great surprise that this CD is full of excellent songs. Here's to many more years of Bomber!